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12.05.2016

There are numerous petitions urging electors in red states to vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump. It's very unlikely that this would actually happen - it's unlikely that any electors would actually vote against their pledge, let alone enough to shift the win from Trump to Clinton. Clinton has already conceded and President Obama has already (perhaps begrudgingly) welcomed Trump to the White House. So no one should get their heart set on this actually happening.

But hey, it is possible and it would be completelylegal. There are 164 electoral votes that are supposed to go to Trump but could legally go to Clinton if the electors chose to vote their conscience. She needs 42 to win, but Trump would only need to lose 20 to cost him the presidency (and put the decision into the hands of the Senate instead). A lot of these are in traditionally "red" states, but this election was different. Many Republicans did not support Donald Trump. However, they also don't support Hillary Clinton. I don't think we should hold out for Clinton as our next president, but the truth is, anyone would be better than Trump at this point. So if the electors wanted to get together and elect someone else entirely, that would still be better (as long as it's not Mike Pence, yuck).

Even if there aren't enough votes to shift the election away from Trump, I do think that any electors that vote against pledge will be making an important statement against Trump. Donald Trump is neither qualified nor fit to be president. He ran for president on a platform of misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia and lost the popular vote by over 2 million votes. More importantly, it would make an important statement against the legitimacy of the electoral college in general. The truth is, this system has outgrown its purpose and does not represent the will of the people. So if you want to keep fighting against Trump, I say go for it. So this is how you can do try to do that...

2. Confirm whether your state's electors are bound by law or party pledge to cast their vote for a specific candidate.

The following states have mandates requiring electors to vote the way they're expected to, or else risk of penalty: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. (In Maine and Nebraska, electors are required to vote according to the Congressional District method.)

3. Confirm whether your state went "red" or "blue."

Delaware, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island all voted in favor of Hillary Clinton so these electors don't need to be convinced to vote against the pledge. (Of course, it doesn't hurt to thank or encourage them to vote the way they've pledged, if you want. You can find the full list of electors here.)

4. Find out who the electors are in your state and their contact information.You can reach most of the electors through a form email on http://asktheelectors.org.

However, if you'd like to reach out directly, I tried to compile as much contact information for as many electors as possible. (Thank you to everyone who helped research this!)

This is not a complete list but I will be updating it as I get more information. If you have the address, email or phone number of any elector on this list please get in touch!!

5. Find out the electoral process in your state.
Generally, each state's Electors vote at their state capitols and the vote may or may not be open to the public. You can contact your state's governor or secretary of state to find out more about the proceedings.

6. If the proceedings are open to the public, GO!
Make some signs, gather some friends, and go down there and show them that they need to vote their consciences and vote the will of the people - against Donald Trump. Even if they're not open to the public, you can still stand outside and make your feelings known.

7. Have hope.
I still think it's very unlikely that we will see Hillary Clinton as our president. It's almost as unlikely that the electors will vote for anyone else other than Donald Trump. But it's still important to make our feelings on this subject known and ultimately reform the electoral college entirely.